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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Besides all of the uber-creative and incredibly entertaining blogs I read, my best resource for creative inspiration is to aimlessly walk the aisles at various stores. Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree, you name it.

My latest inspiration? A DIY New Years Eve Wreath inspired by items at the Dollar Tree. This whimsical and sparkly wreath is perfect for welcoming guests to your NYE party! The best part? It costs $4 and took about 20 minutes!

Here's what you will need:

Wooden Wreath Form ($1 - Dollar Tree)

Gold Tissue Paper ($1 - Dollar Tree)

Foil Shreds/Tinsel ($1 - Dollar Tree)

Noisemaker Horns ($.49 cents each - Party City)

Scotch Tape - (Free - Already had it!)

So, here is how you make this super simple wreath. While you are watching TV, drinking wine, or hanging with your friends (I was doing all 3, thank you very much), do some crafting!

Wrap the tissue paper around the wreath form and fasten it with tape.

Grab a handful of foil shred/tinsel and tie it around the wreath. Fasten with tape if needed.

Add decorations - I used cutout black letters to spell 2011 and sparkly noisemaker horns to add the finishing touches.

The final product?

I love this picture below...It shows my Christmas tree in the background, which is still up and I am loving it. I will take it down next year....Get it?

Hee Hee... I always loved that joke...

Even if you are not great at math (like moi), it's easy to calculate that this is a DIRT CHEAP project!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL holiday! I know I did! I was spoiled with family, cookies and gifts galore....making me a lucky girl. Now on to New Years Eve!

We are having a SMALL get together... small being 6 people. Actually 6 and 1/2 if you include my little niece, and I certainly do. I am still figuring out exactly what I am doing (UMMM Jackie, might want to hurry up as it's 3 days away), I have known for MONTHS what dessert I am doing.

Enter this book, which I received awhile ago:

Ever since I got this book, I have been dying to do the clock cupcakes. What am I talking about? Check out Cupcakes Take The Cake for their fabulous rendition:

This is one of those things that makes me say... "Why didn't I think of that?!" So easy but looks so impressive!

If anyone has any good CHAMPAGNE flavored cupcake recipes, please let me know!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Mr. Fo and I had a little holiday gathering last weekend. The best part? It was on a budget and STILL fabulous!

The main decor items: water (free), glass vases (free), floating candles (2 packs for $8) and cranberries (6 bags for $12). The total? $20! Now that's a Christmas miracle ;)

Take a look:

It's so easy! Fill your containers with water, and throw a bunch of cranberries on the top! You can do a lot of cranberries or a little, it's up to you. Perch a floating candle on the top of the floating cranberries, and voila! The only downside with floating candles? They are floating in WATER, so be careful not to get them wet, or they won't light. One big plus to this idea? Cranberries freeze really well, so I can save these and pull them out for next year's table!

I hope you and your family have a wonderful, jolly and laughter-filled Christmas. Back to regular posting next week. For now, I plan to relax, over-indulge and enjoy the holidays. Rumor has it we might be having a white Christmas! I certainly hope so!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Hello Blog World and Merry Christmas Week! I have enjoyed myself relaxing, baking and shopping! And WRAPPING!

Normally I go with the glitzy, glittery stuff that gets all over the house. This year? I went a more simple route! For the past few years I have admired the pictures of simple brown kraft paper as wrapping paper. After searching all over town for the paper ( I found it at Staples for CHEAP), I went to town!

Using simple paper gives the presents a vintage look, and also makes your "accoutremon" (as my friend Michael pronounces it -aka accoutrement) really stand out. I used ribbon, scrapbook paper, yarn, ornaments and glittery accents to make the presents pop!

Instead of traditional gift tags, I bought a book of Christmas scrapbook paper (Martha Stewart of course) and used my craft puncher and scissors to cut out fun tags. It added another unique element to the plain paper!

Check out this fabulous candy cane striped ribbon I found at Michael's. Note - the below gift is for my brother-in-law Michael, who made fun of my wrapping scheme. Hmm.... maybe Santa will take your presents back.

So do as the the song says, and wrap your presents in Brown Paper Packaging! I promise, you will have fun with it!

Come back for my next post where I will show you a quick and CHEAP idea for a Christmas table decoration!

Friday, December 17, 2010

With all of the fabulous holiday eye candy on the web these days, I figured I would end the week with some of my favorites. I have been under the weather for the past few days, which leads to lots of blog reading - one perk of being sick!

Let's take a look-see through holiday blogland, shall we?

Sending cookies in the mail? Kim Vallee featured this easy idea on her blog - send cookies in decorated mailing tubes! These ideas come from Better Homes and Gardens and Martha Stewart. Click HERE for Kim's entire post.

Next up is one of my favorite bloggers, in fact one of the first bloggers I ever started reading back in the day. It's Chris from Celebrations at Home - if you don't know her, you have been living under a rock as they say :) Check her out for daily inspiration. Chris answers the age old question, "What do to with all those holiday cards piling up?" Chris used a picture frame to make a super creative, pretty and functional Card Display. Check out her post HERE.

One of my other daily reads, the sweet Sandi from Oh Baby Shower Decor!, took a page from Chris' book and made her own frame card display - check it out HERE.

I also discovered a new fab blog, Joy Ever After. I love it when this happens, although I can't remember now how I stumbled upon her lovely site! I'm certainly glad I did. Here are a few of her fabulous posts:

This DIY Wreath is fabulous - so easy and could be used for any season with any color!

A gingerbread house with my coffee? Yes please. I have had my eye on this since last year... it's probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. Although it looks hard to create and like I may need some sort of mini gingerbread house blueprint.... advice? Even if I can't create this, I am perfectly content drooling over this idea from Not Martha. It kind of reminds me of the heart I made that perched on my cup for Valentine's Day...

From the always fantastic Hostess with the Mostess, check out their feature that includes a tree with hanging ornament cookies! This would make a great centerpiece for a dessert table!

Let's look forward to New Year's Eve, shall we? For inspiration, you MUST check out Social Coutore's recent New Years post.My favorites? the pink clock cookies and candelabra with cupcakes! Be sure to head to their site to purchase all of these New Years Eve party printables!

And finally, guess what I found on one of my favorite blogs today, Bon Bon Rose Girls? Me! Thanks to the lovely Kristin, my pink and green cookie party was featured! Thanks so much Kristin - check out Bon Bon Rose Girls for fabulous fashion and style tips, plus much, much more!

One more weekend before Christmas - good luck heading out in the holiday rush the next few days!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

How about a little random cuteness for your Thursday? Yes, that sounds good.

I will admit, I have a crush on the Gingerbread Man. I've got him in all forms - oven mitt, cookies, spatula, and now: Measuring spoons! After my mom stopped squealing with delight as she found them in Pier One, she bought several pairs to gift. Of course she couldn't wait until Christmas, and I have these in my kitchen right now. HOW CUTE ARE THESE GUYS? They have those little mischievous smiles.... Gingerbread Man, I heart you.

Next up is another adorable baking tool, this time from my mother-in-law, Susan. For my birthday, Susan gave me a bag full of kitchen goodies, including this cupcake plunger below! Have you ever wondered how to make filled cupcakes? Well this is how! I can't wait to use it! If you have a great filled cupcake recipe, please share!

Also in my bag of kitchen goodies from Susan was this FABULOUS apron. I must say, I got so many wonderful birthday gifts, but this is my absolute favorite! It's a LITTLE BLACK APRON!! Like a Little Black Dress, but an apron? I die! There is a built in pearl necklace... an an APRON! Yes please. LOVE LOVE LOVE! Who says you can't be fashionable in the kitchen?

And finally, the ultimate cuteness, my niece Brooke. I took her and her stuffed elephant to Target the other day. She was sporting this fabulous rabbit hat from Grandpa Art. Another random cuteness? The corduroy elephant's name? Cordy Roy!! STOP IT!